Sit still for a few minutes and see what is there

Ron i'm not big on landscapes, so please get other oppinions.

The rock in the foreground grabbs alot of attention (too much i think).

At first glance, i see : alot of noise (a little noise reduction in post will fix that);lack of saturation (again some editing); lack of small scale contrast( Use an unsharp mask at a high radius and small amount ...ie rad. of 6-12 and amount of .20 to .50---what ever looks the best ) ; It needs a small rotation to the left ; Basically just a good solid edit from the raw file. (not shure how far along you are with editing, or what program you use.)

Seeing the image is the hard part, and you have that down. I like the colors and the sky. The reflection of the clouds in the water is awesome, and the little sticks in the forground add some interest. With a little bit of editing, this one can be very nice.

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Originally Posted by Rasbury

Went to Rodman Dam early saturday morning,camera in hand with my seat and monopod and took quite a few photo's in 2 hours time that i was there.This is one of several photo's of the mist rolling across the water that i took that morning.Thanks for viewing...Ron

http://i54.tinypic.com/2822nhw.jpg
ISO 200,f/13,1/125 sec,160mm,PP in CS3

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Just gorgeous! I can feel the chill of that mist...as least, I thought I could, but considering the temperature in Florida last Saturday morning, perhaps not ;). Those contrasting textures are superbly caught, all the same.

Seri

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Looks like you did have some pretty light this morning, Seri.

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Thanks, Mary :) With the sun behind a Mackeral Sky, yes it was, no it wasn't, yes it was :D

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That one, I think, is lovely. That 'wall' of grey behind makes a perfect backdrop and the sunlight playing on the flowerheads is sublime.

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Thank you, Donald. The effect of sunlight and shadow on the seedheads is exactly what I was trying to capture. I thought the light was too intense, but luckily, it worked this time:)

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Seri: These are outstanding, all of them, but the first one is my pick. I love the subject matter, the colours the dark background and the compositon. The B&W is also very good and I echo what Donald said. I don't know what you want to clone but it looks fine to me. What a great way to start the day and discover what is just outside the door.
BTW everyone, click on these to view them full size in the lytebox. They are wonderful. Thank you Seri

Wendy

Edit: Oh, BTW, don't worry about a time limit, the point is to be still and look around... take as much time as you want. The more time spent the better.

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Many thanks, Wendy :) No 1 was quite a surprise. I liked the way the snails were oriented, but it was only in PP that I saw how well the bin lid had turned out :D The ant was a nice bonus too. I wish I could say I saw it entire at the time - that's where I'd like to be in a few years' time :)

I'm glad to hear that we can spend longer than 15 minutes. But just one further question. I worked while sitting in one location, just circling round on my seat, because I wasn't sure of the radius of operations :). I like working within boundaries, so do let me know how far we can move...

Will you be doing another soon? :)

Seri

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Great job on the cricket seri. I like that one alot.

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Thanks, Steve :)

It was a frustrating task because when the sun was in it lost its beautiful colours, but when out the whites were blown. I decided to go for the latter.

I have a lot of luck with grasshoppers and crickets. I can get close enough to nudge them into a different position sometimes. The ones in my garden have known me since they were babies, and I also think that they like the sound of the camera clicking :D

Seri

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From Seriche: I'm glad to hear that we can spend longer than 15 minutes. But just one further question. I worked while sitting in one location, just circling round on my seat, because I wasn't sure of the radius of operations . I like working within boundaries, so do let me know how far we can move...

Will you be doing another soon?

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Seri: I had not really thought about the radius of operations. The point of the exercise is to sit still and observe, so I think if you sit in one spot for whatever amount of time and observe and think about what you are seeing, it would be OK to get up and move around in order to get the shot that you saw from your vantage point while sitting. In other words, observe from 1 spot but if you have to walk a bit to get the shot, that's fine.
There really are no hard and fast rules, the main objective is an exercise in observation and appreciation of all the subjects available close at hand no matter where you are.

I plan to do more, but I want to do them in what for me would be an unusual setting, for instance in the kitchen, or any other room in the house or some other building, downtown, in a parking lot when I'm out shopping... anywhere, anything

I hope you plan to do more too, and I'm looking forward to see some more postings here. I know they are in the works. :) Right?

Wendy

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Originally Posted by ScoutR

I know they are in the works. :) Right?

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I did try yesterday - honest. But there was nothing good enough.

EDIT - Or, I should say, I wasn't seeing well enough.

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Originally Posted by ScoutR

Seri: I had not really thought about the radius of operations. The point of the exercise is to sit still and observe, so I think if you sit in one spot for whatever amount of time and observe and think about what you are seeing, it would be OK to get up and move around in order to get the shot that you saw from your vantage point while sitting. In other words, observe from 1 spot but if you have to walk a bit to get the shot, that's fine.
There really are no hard and fast rules, the main objective is an exercise in observation and appreciation of all the subjects available close at hand no matter where you are.

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Wendy. Thanks for that. All understood now.

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I plan to do more, but I want to do them in what for me would be an unusual setting, for instance in the kitchen, or any other room in the house or some other building, downtown, in a parking lot when I'm out shopping... anywhere, anything

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That's the beauty of it: freedom within boundaries. And also offering us the possibility of working outside our usual genres :)

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I hope you plan to do more too, and I'm looking forward to see some more postings here. I know they are in the works. :) Right?

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I plan to be a regular contributor because it's such a good discipline. I'll do another one when others have posted first (quick nudge for Donald :D).

Greatly looking forward to seeing your next set :)

Seri

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Originally Posted by Seriche

Just gorgeous! I can feel the chill of that mist...as least, I thought I could, but considering the temperature in Florida last Saturday morning, perhaps not ;). Those contrasting textures are superbly caught, all the same.

Seri

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Thanks Seri.If i didn't mention it already i love your snail photo.It's a beautiful photo.Thanks...Ron

Wendy, since you posted in the yellow thread, it's only fair i post one in yours. I sat next to a small pond and this is what i came up with.....................http://i194.photobucket.com/albums/z...Editcopy-3.jpg

Steve: That is incredibly perfect. The pose the colours the background the focus. If this was my shot it would have been a zen moment, but somehow or other all your shots are this good. Are you a Buddhist monk by any chance or just really good with the camera? :D Nice shot, thanks for posting.

Wendy

SUPER set !!

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Originally Posted by ScoutR

Steve: That is incredibly perfect. The pose the colours the background the focus. If this was my shot it would have been a zen moment, but somehow or other all your shots are this good. Are you a Buddhist monk by any chance or just really good with the camera? :D Nice shot, thanks for posting.

Wendy

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You're funny ....:) I 'm actually neither, i just don't post my bad shots, and trust me , i have plenty.

Here is one more good one from the sit................

http://i194.photobucket.com/albums/z...Editcopy-3.jpg

So I went downtown and tried this exercise in the back alley parking lot behind the stores. I saw a lot, but I don't think any of these evoke any emotion or say anything at all, they are just things. :( The feeling I got and would like to capture with this kind of shot is run down and tidy but not well maintained, kind of depressing, any C&C on how to get that into a shot would be appreciated.

Here is what I got

#1. Bins against a wall
http://ftp.execulink.com/~wfsweb/Ima...72511-0122.jpg

#2. Abstract of the wall
http://ftp.execulink.com/~wfsweb/Ima...72511-0141.jpg

#3. Mailboxes for the apartments above the stores
http://ftp.execulink.com/~wfsweb/Ima...72511-0127.jpg

#4. Doorbells for the apartments above the stores
http://ftp.execulink.com/~wfsweb/Ima...72511-0135.jpg


And then of course there are always flowers somewhere to catch my eye
http://ftp.execulink.com/~wfsweb/Ima...72511-0149.jpg

And someone put up a new clothesline
http://ftp.execulink.com/~wfsweb/Ima...72511-0168.jpg

And I couldn't resist the flag on the side of a panel truck.
http://ftp.execulink.com/~wfsweb/Ima...72511-0156.jpg

There were a lot of other things too, mostly hydro related, but I don't really like my composition in any of them so I didn't work on them at all.

So really I'm not too impressed with this outing, but I did give it a try and the exercise did make me stop and look around. I think that's the first step to getting some meaningful shots of this type... Maybe?

Wendy

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Originally Posted by ScoutR

... and the exercise did make me stop and look around. I think that's the first step to getting some meaningful shots of this type... Maybe?

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I would say 'Absolutely'

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Originally Posted by ScoutR

I saw a lot, but I don't think any of these evoke any emotion or say anything at all, they are just things

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Mmmm, don't know about that. I would put 'Bins against a wall' in the 'this tells a story' category. I like it very much and think it's a quite powerful image. I think the right hand bin is maybe too tight up against the edge of the frame.